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Date Posted: 08:20:11 06/16/04 Wed
Author: peadar
Subject: Anti-social behaviour orders will 'scapegoat UU Students'

Anti-social behaviour orders will 'scapegoat young'

11 June 2004
AS representatives of a large number of voluntary, community and church groups working with young people we are writing to support the move by the Young People's Commissioner to seek a judicial review of the introduction of the Measures to Tackle Anti-Social Behaviour (ASBOs). We are also concerned at the haste in which these measures are being implemented.

Criminal Justice Minister John Spellar has accused the commissioner of being out of step with other bodies. Our work on the ground with young people though would indicate the widespread conviction among youth organisations that not only will these measures be ineffective, but that they are also a blatant abuse of the human rights of young people.

Our main concerns are:

Home Office guidance which accompanied the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, stated that "ASBOs will be used mainly against adults". Indeed, it was stated that ASBOs would only be used against children in exceptional circumstances and those cases in which children were caught up in the anti-social behaviour of adults. The impression is that they are going to be used to "solve the young people problem". This strategy of scapegoating young people for anti-social behaviour flies in the face of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

We are being asked to implement measures on what we are told is the experience in England and Wales, yet we have not received any objective evaluation of the effectiveness of these measures. The proposed measures also do not take into account the effect of the past 30 years of conflict on their lives of the young people in our community.

We accept fully that there are major issues which as a society we need to face in regard to teenage anti-social behaviour. However, we believe the first stage of such a strategy must be to look at the priority we give to the needs of vulnerable people within our society and the lack of meaningful investment of services that aim to promote the healthy development of those most at risk.

Our youth service, for example, is grossly under resourced and the lack of access to long-term therapeutic work with young people is a scandal.

We recognise that anti-social behaviour by individuals can cause real difficulties for communities and that tackling it is of critical importance.

Young people who take part in that type of anti-social behaviour must be enabled to accept responsibility for their actions and recognise the impact that their actions have on others. However, we are concerned that young people are seen to be scapegoated for this type of behaviour. This ignores the fact that most instances of anti-social behaviour in communities is carried out by adults rather than by young people.

The measures have echoes of being a more sanitised version of the tactics employed by armed groups. Over the passed 30 years armed groups have expelled, punished, named and shamed young people.

On their part there is at least some recognition that it has not worked. Indeed such tactics have often led to a deeper degree of alienation and subsequent conflict between young people and the communities to which they belong.

Kneecappings, for example, were often seen as a "badge of honour", rather than as a deterrent. We would contend that the collection of ASBOs and breaches of such by young people may well be viewed in the same way.

The document raises concern for us when it refers to the enforcement of ASBOs. Surely excluding people from their own area and families will serve not only to merely shift the problem from one locality to another but also have the effect of making sustained and effective work with those people by professionals who know them less likely to succeed.

We are deeply disturbed that the Government is proposing that young people may be found guilty on the grounds of "hearsay evidence". This is a blatant abuse of the human rights of the individual. Experience must surely highlight the underlying danger of relying on hearsay evidence to secure convictions.

We believe that these measures, while undoubtedly appealing to those who view young people as potential problems in society, will not work. Indeed, we believe these measures will serve to further alienate vulnerable young people and place them and, consequently, the rest of society at even further risk.

The measures make no attempt to understand the complex nature of vulnerable people in our society and show little knowledge or recognition of the good practice already in place.

We would strongly recommend the development of a more strategic approach to the issue of "anti-social behaviour", which seeks both to understand the issues involved and is committed to the resourcing of effective measures, including long term therapeutic interventions and restorative approaches to conflict resolution.

BRIAN McKEE, Director, Youthcom; JIM AULD, Director, Community Restorative Justice; GERRY McCONVILLE, Drugs Co-Ordinator, Falls Community Council

Source
Date
Belfast Telegraph
14th June 2004

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